Cycling – Olympicshttp://olympics.time.com
News, Photos and Videos from the London 2012 Summer GamesThu, 22 Feb 2018 05:16:31 +0000enhourly1http://wordpress.com/http://1.gravatar.com/blavatar/53106f6a2616452b1b756a3488c9fb01?s=96&d=http%3A%2F%2Fs2.wp.com%2Fi%2Fbuttonw-com.pngCycling – Olympicshttp://olympics.time.com
Great Britain’s First Two Golds: The Host Nation Comes to the Partyhttp://olympics.time.com/2012/08/01/great-britains-first-two-golds-the-host-nation-comes-to-the-party/
http://olympics.time.com/2012/08/01/great-britains-first-two-golds-the-host-nation-comes-to-the-party/#respondWed, 01 Aug 2012 19:59:09 +0000http://olympics.time.com/?p=2345209Much as with the iconic red buses that pass through London, you wait ages for a Great Britain gold medal and then two come along at once. And for that welcome sight, a nation’s grateful thanks will forever go to a talented trio.

Rowers Heather Stanning and Helen Glover started GB’s good fortune by turning the women’s pair into a procession, steamrolling the competition with a winning time of seven minutes 27.13 seconds, becoming Britain’s first ever female rowers to win an Olympic title. And a few hours later, obviously still fresh from his stunning Tour de France triumph, Bradley Wiggins won gold in the time trial. The momentum was evident throughout the day, with Scotland’s Michael Jamieson getting silver in the 200m breaststroke as well as a bronze coming from the men’s eight in rowing. The (relative) plethora of medals is, in the words of Prime Minister David Cameron, “going to give a huge confidence boost to the whole country.”

Hopes were high for a positive result in the rowing as Stanning and Glover are the current World silver medalists. But it’s worth remembering that Glover had never stepped in a rowing boat before 2008, which in sporting terms might as well be the equivalent of last week – she was a product of the National Lottery-funded Sporting Giants talent identification program – while Stanning’s day job is as a Captain in the Royal Artillery, which she returns to next month. Their rivals never stood a chance: despite the Germans gamely trying to keep up, Stanning and Glover were clear at 500m mark, and three-and-a-half seconds (which equated to a three-quarters of a length lead) at the halfway mark. At 1500m, with the gap further increased, the pair seemed to allow themselves a wry smile; that probably didn’t please their coaches but delighted the hometown masses watching around the country and in person at Eton Dorney, just outside of London, which included Princes William and Harry, who are fast becoming lucky mascots (they saw their cousin Zara Phillips win a silver in equestrian’s team eventing). The finish was a procession, with the only remaining issue being which of those highly competitive near neighbors would take silver and bronze (Australia held off New Zealand). Glover was so overcome with emotion that she said “I don’t remember smiling as I never ever thought we’ve got it.” As for Stanning, she wanted “to collapse I’m so overjoyed.”

Let’s hope they recovered their composure to watch what unfolded during London’s afternoon, with the capital now bathed in golden sunshine. Tour de France winner Wiggins ripped up the record books to become GB’s most decorated Olympian, with his gold in the time trial putting his personal tally of seven – four golds, a silver and two bronzes – one ahead of Sir Steve Redgrave (aptly, the former rower Redgrave cheered Stanning and Glover on in person). After Mark Cavendish failed to deliver any kind of medal on day one of the Games in the road race, the suggestion was that the gruelling three week odyssey across France had simply taken too much out of him and his Team Sky teammates. But Wiggins got his own helping hand of sorts during last Saturday’s race, with Swiss heavyweight Fabian Cancellara, the defending champion, far from his imposing self due to the crash he suffered over the weekend. While Germany’s Tony Martin, much like his rowing compatriots, did his best to make the early running, Wiggins would not be denied and defeated Martin by a margin of 42 seconds, posting a time of 50 minutes 39 seconds. “It was phenomenal, the noise was amazing,” said Wiggins. “I don’t think my sporting career will ever top this now. That’s it. It will never, never get better than that.” But let’s spare a thought for British cycling’s forgotten man of Chris Froome, who followed up his runners-up finish to Wiggo in the Tour with an impressive bronze. In any other year, banners would be written in Froome’s name. But this is not any other year.

The host nation got a brief respite from the gold rush for a quick bite to eat and reflect upon this surge up the standings to 10th. Could the post-dinner viewing possibly include further golds? Scotland’s Jamieson flew through the 200m breaststroke heats but couldn’t respond to Daniel Gyurta when it mattered, with the Hungarian besting him in a world record time of 2:07.28. “I was desperate to get on the podium,” Jamieson said. “I know how strong Gyurta is, his last 50m is the strongest in the world no doubt, the idea was to make a move before then, and try to cling on. I’m so delighted.”

]]>http://olympics.time.com/2012/08/01/great-britains-first-two-golds-the-host-nation-comes-to-the-party/feed/0Swimminghttp://olympics.time.com/category/swimming/https://timeolympics.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/2100_oly_wigginsstanningglover_0801.jpg?w=2402100_oly_wigginsstanningglover_0801GlenCycling Road Race: No Gold for the Host Nationhttp://olympics.time.com/2012/07/28/cycling-road-race-no-gold-for-the-host-nation/
http://olympics.time.com/2012/07/28/cycling-road-race-no-gold-for-the-host-nation/#respondSat, 28 Jul 2012 15:53:20 +0000http://olympics.time.com/?p=2344227When did the Olympics begin for you? For some, it was when the fabled torch landed on British soil just over two months ago. For many, it was Danny Boyle’s beautiful, brilliant and, at times, baffling opening ceremony, which celebrated what the 2012 host nation has given to the world. (Shakespeare! Health care! Harry Potter!)

But for Mark Cavendish, the 30th modern Olympics began the moment the 27-year old Isle of Man native set off on Saturday from The Mall, a location so central that both the Queen and Prime Minister David Cameron could peer out of their respective windows and take in the atmosphere (though bearing in mind the Queen’s exploits last night, she was probably enjoying a well earned lie-in).

At 10.00am (5.00am ET), Cavendish and four of his Team Sky brothers in arms—fresh from their stunning success in making Bradley Wiggins the first Briton to win the historic Tour de France after 99 years—set about negotiating the 250km course, the longest distance across any of the 26 Olympic events. If they could replicate for Cav in London what they achieved for Wiggo in Paris, Great Britain‘s first Gold medal of the Games would be in the bag. And in the process, a nation would be galvanized.

Cavendish had been considered the favorite going into the event, considering that sprinting is his speciality, which is what the race was supposedly going to come down to. He’s racked up a ton of stage events at the Tour de France over the years, including the final stage last Sunday, but had specifically tailored this year’s Tour as a very lengthy warm-up for his real aim of securing Gold. But, as with Wiggins in the Tour, Cavendish would surely need more than a little help from his Team Sky friends—alphabetically they stacked up as Chris Froome, David Miller, Ian Stannard and Wiggins—if he were to get these Games off to a flyer both for himself and a sports mad host nation desperate to celebrate on the opening day of competition.

Team’s Sky specific tactics of ensuring that Wiggins would be the priority across France worked beautifully, with the Londoner winning by three minutes and 21 seconds. In fact, it worked so beautifully that Cav, who enjoys the spotlight as much as anyone in sports, has hinted that he may need to look elsewhere to make sure that his needs are met. Nevertheless, Wiggins had promised to return the favor by “racing my heart out,” he said, in the road race.

When falling behind on Saturday, the British riders stuck to their guns and didn’t panic, despite being six minutes adrift of the first breakaway bunch when they hit the gruelling Box Hill for the first time. This steep area outside of the capital had been pinpointed as being the main reason why Cav’s quest could fall apart. But by the timecheck at the 168km mark, they were just one minute, 22 seconds back. Twelve plucky cyclists had decided to make a shot at disturbing the status quo by breaking away; slowly but surely, other riders kept attacking the escapees while the British riders at the head of the peleton didn’t stray from their script, confident that the leaders would be reeled in and the race would come down to a sprint finish back at The Mall.

But there were just too many moments of considerable concern. With 25km to go, and the leaders still maintaining a healthy lead of over a minute, GB’s Froome ran out of steam, leaving Cavendish with a little less help. But as the cycling Gods take away they can also give: Switzerland’s main hope Fabian Cancellara, among others, badly misjudged a corner with approximately 15 km left and crashed, putting paid to his medal hopes. At almost the same moment in the chasing pack, Wiggins decided to put in another significant shift to help Cav but, ironically, potentially damage his own hopes in next Wednesday’s time trial by exerting himself.

Alas, the effort would count for nought. It became apparent that while there would still be a sprint finish, it would only be contested between two men: Kazakhstan’s Alexandre Vinokourov and Colombia’s Roberto Uran. And in retrospect, the moment an hour or so earlier when Cancellara took off on the final circuit of Box Hill is when the Brits should have made their major move.

Back to the medal contenders and as they approached the line, Uran was more concerned with the chasing pack, which was a costly decision because they certainly weren’t chasing. Vinokourov, a cyclist who has been close to controversy and retirement in recent years, took advantage of his opponent napping and took glory by roughly two bike-lengths with Norway’s Alexander Kristoff nabbing bronze. “Today’s race was unbelievable and dangerous,” said Vinokourov. “I followed the group and then attacked on the sprint.” As for Cavendish, he languished in 29th place.

The suspicion immediately sprung up that the peleton were essentially riding against the Brits and Cavendish, as they didn’t seem particularly interested in making up much ground on the leaders. Was it a case of the hosts against the world? Or over confidence on the part of Cav (who certainly doesn’t lack any) and his team-mates? When TIME puts these very points to Labour Party leader Ed Miliband, who was at The Mall to cheer on Team GB, he laughs off the suggestion, noting, “that’s way beyond my pay grade,” before saying that “I think he’s (Cavendish) a great athlete and they’re a great team. Nothing can take away from the fact that we won the Tour de France for the first time in 99 years and they’ll be other opportunites during the Games for British cycling.” Perhaps so but the post-mortem is about to begin. And as far as Kazakhstan and Vinokourov are concerned, so have the Olympics.

]]>http://olympics.time.com/2012/07/28/cycling-road-race-no-gold-for-the-host-nation/feed/0Cyclinghttp://olympics.time.com/category/cycling/https://timeolympics.files.wordpress.com/2012/07/cavendish.jpg?w=240cavendishGlenAfter Tour de France, Will Bradley Wiggins Win Olympic Gold?http://olympics.time.com/2012/07/24/after-tour-de-france-will-bradley-wiggins-win-olympic-gold/
http://olympics.time.com/2012/07/24/after-tour-de-france-will-bradley-wiggins-win-olympic-gold/#respondTue, 24 Jul 2012 06:58:02 +0000http://olympics.time.com/?p=2343263On Monday, an Englishman left his home in the northern neighbourhood of Eccleston, Lancashire and set off on his bike. The small matter of becoming the first Brit to win the Tour de France, after 99 tours (spanning 109 years) due to his negotiating 2,175 miles (3,497km), across often arduous terrains, didn’t seem to be an issue. Bradley Wiggins is already turning his attention to his home Olympics.

Before pedalling forward, we must cycle back: The 32-year-old Londoner has utterly dominated the competition over three weeks of one of the toughest endurance tests in sport. Wiggins had previously shown that he had the stomach to compete in the Tour thanks to a highly impressive fourth place finish in 2009, which equalled Robert Millar’s British best in 1984. A combination of bad luck (as well as some admittedly poor performances) in 2010 pushed him down the standings and then a broken collarbone curtailed his 2011 tour. Instead of bemoaning his misfortune, Wiggins was determined to come back better than ever. After taking the Yellow Jersey for the first time this year on stage 7 (he finished in third place that day), he never looked back and kept it on for 13 consecutive stages. Wiggins won the time trial from Arc-et-Senans to Besancon during stage 9, actually extended his lead during the final day in the gruelling mountains (stage 17) and was also victorious in the time-trial on the penultimate day. He ended up winning by 3 minutes and 21 seconds.

Not bad for a boy who used to cycle around a council estate in Kilburn, north-west London. As a 13-year old in 1993, Wiggins took the Eurostar with his mother and cheered the Tour riders home on the Champs-Elysees, France’s most famous thoroughfare, and saw his hero Miguel Indurain win his third tour in a row. On Sunday, he did it for the first time, with the good wishes of not just the British fans ringing in his ears but the locals as well (no wonder he called the final stretch “goose-pimple stuff.”). He’s been nicknamed Colonel Wiggo and Le Gentleman by a nation not just impressed with his ability to speak the local language but because he’s possessed with an all too rare streak of sportsmanship that saw him order the peloton to slow down after last year’s winner Evans was the victim of sabotage when tacks got onto the road.

Of course, it would be remiss to not mention the spirit of Team Sky, led by Dave Brailsford, Team Sky’s director, who assembled a squad instructed to protect not just Wiggins but his lead once he got ahold of the precious Yellow Jersey. The plan clearly worked to a tee — though some hankered for the runner-up, teammate Chris Froome, to have been allowed off the leash and given Wiggins a literal run for his money. But they stuck to the game plan (look for Froome to get his moment in the sun next year) and credit must also go to Wiggins for knowing when to play the bit part: on the final stage, rather than hide away amidst his protective posse, there was Wiggins in the line of riders pacing his colleague Mark Cavendish, helping him to his fourth stage win in a row in Paris. In total, seven stages were won by the Brits this Tour, which works out to be a staggering one in every three. While the talk is that Cav will break away from his pack next year — the Manx Missile’s third stage win of the Tour moved him to 23 overall, one ahead of seven-time champion Lance Armstrong and Frenchman Andre Darrigade, but 11 behind the record-holding Belgian Eddy Merckx — and seek glory elsewhere, there’s still a big job ahead of him, because the Olympics are about to come to town.

This Saturday, the likes of Wiggins, Froome, David Millar and Ian Stannard will be looking to Cavendish to potentially win Britain’s first Gold medal of the games if he triumphs in the road race. Wiggins has said that he will “ride his heart out” to help Cav. And then a week this Wednesday, Wiggins goes for Gold in the Olympic time trial, which could see him surpass Sir Steve Redgrave as most medalled British Olympian in history. Victory would be Wiggins’ fourth gold and sixth Olympic medal. Sacrificing the traditional Tour winner’s party in Paris was a tough decision for Wiggins but a key one, be believes, because the Olympic gold “is a higher priority than anything else.”

Many a British sports fan has noted that their heroes traditionally do well in disciplines which require them to put their bums on seats: hopes are indeed high in rowing as well as cycling. But has interest in this two-wheeled sport ever been higher? On Monday, it was announced that Sir Chris Hoy would be Team GB’s flag bearer at the Opening Ceremony this Friday as the four-time Olympic gold medal winner polled the most amount of votes among the 542 members of the British team.

But while that’s the undoubted cherry on the cake as far as GB cycling is concerned, the attention must mainly remain with Wiggins. His Tour de France achievement is so considerable that you can already make the case that it won’t be topped by any British accolade at the Games. In fact, the debate has already begun as to where he now places in the pantheon of British greats. The modest Wiggins wouldn’t hear any of it, but it can comfortably sit alongside the likes of Roger Bannister’s four-minute mile, Geoff Hurst’s World Cup final hat-trick of 1966, Fred Perry’s Wimbledon titles and, naturally, Redgrave’s five Olympic Golds in five consecutive Games. And as Wiggins already looks splendid in yellow, it would be rude at this point to not add a golden touch. Back on the podium Sunday, with the eyes of the cycling world upon him, he was handed the microphone and somehow had the composure to unfurl a zinger: “Right, we’re just going to draw the raffle numbers.” Too late, Bradley, you held the winning ticket all along.

]]>http://olympics.time.com/2012/07/24/after-tour-de-france-will-bradley-wiggins-win-olympic-gold/feed/0Cyclinghttp://olympics.time.com/category/cycling/https://timeolympics.files.wordpress.com/2012/07/20120722_zaf_p34_271.jpg?w=240Bradley WigginsGlen27 Things You Didn’t Know About the Olympicshttp://olympics.time.com/2012/07/19/27-things-you-didnt-know-about-the-olympics/
http://olympics.time.com/2012/07/19/27-things-you-didnt-know-about-the-olympics/#respondThu, 19 Jul 2012 11:40:24 +0000http://olympics.time.com/?p=23427751.) 2,400 The estimated number of soccer balls that will be used during the London 2012 Games

2.) 2,000+ Number of athletes who will compete in track and field, the largest sport at the Olympic Games

3.) Munich 1972 The year the 100-m hurdles were introduced

4.) Pumped up kicks Hurdles, at 2 ft., 9-in. (0.838 m) high, are designed to fall forward if an athlete hits one

5.) Oddest term for a maneuver The back-to-the-bar technique in the high jump is called the Fosbury Flop, in honor of 1968 gold medalist Dick Fosbury, who introduced it

6.) What’s in a heptathlon The sport has seven events—the 100-m hurdles, the 200-m dash, the 800-m run, high jump, javelin, long jump and shot put

7.) 210 The number of athletes will take part in the three women’s gymnastics disciplines: artistic, rhythmic and trampoline

8.) No more perfect-10s The top score was eliminated in 2006, replaced by open-ended scoring to reward more difficult, skills-packed gymnastic routines

9.) 1952 The first Games in which women were allowed to compete as individuals in gymnastics, so we can now name-check stars like Mary Lou Retton and Olga Korbut

11.) High beams Perhaps the most precarious apparatus for female gymnasts, the women perform backflips on a beam the width of a typical house brick

12.) Second oddest sports terms A twisting double somersault is called a “fliffis,” while a triple is called a “triffis”

13.) Leap of faith Trampoline athletes reach heights of up to 33 feet (10 m) during their jumps

14.) Most pain tolerance Male Gymnast Shun Fujimoto competed in Montreal in 1976 despite having a broken kneecap; his effort helped the Japanese team win gold

15.) Most decorated Olympian Soviet gymnast Larisa Latynina, who won 18 medals from 1956 to ’64

16.) Top and tail There are two styles in Olympic wrestling—Greco-Roman, in which athletes are allowed to use only their upper bodies and arms, and freestyle, in which all parts of the body may be used

17.) 186 Number of consecutive wrestling matches won by Japan’s freestyle wrestler Osamu Watanabe in Tokyo 1964. He not only won gold; he also ended his career undefeated

18.) 11 hours The length of the longest Olympic match in wrestling history, between two middleweight contenders, Russia’s Martin Klein and Finland’s ­Alfred Asikainen, grappling for a place in the finals at Stockholm 1912. (Klein won)

19.) Surprise ending Rowing is one of the only sports whose competitors, with their backs to the finish line, do not have the end of the race in sight

20.) Youngest Olympic champion A 12-year-old French boy who coxed for a Dutch pair at the 1900 Games is the youngest Olympic champion ever. Shortly after the victory ceremony, he disappeared, his identity unknown

21.) Third oddest sports term The term for what happens when a rower loses control of an oar and does not remove it from the water at the end of the stroke, thereby causing the oar to act as a brake, is called Catching a Crab

22.) Deep breathing Three-time Tour de France winner Greg LeMond claims to have recorded one of the highest V02-max rates ever, 93%. We’ll never know how he would have done at the Olympics—the California-born cyclist missed his lone shot at a medal when the U.S. boycotted the 1980 Moscow Games

23.) Open water In the first modern Olympics, back in 1896, swimmers competed by diving off the side of a yacht and racing toward shore

24.) Smooth moves In weightlifting, the clean and jerk involves a lift of the bar to shoulder height, then above the head, whereas the snatch is one clean movement

25.) Lighten up If there is a tie in weightlifting, the body weight of the lifter is used to determine who wins, with victory going to the lighter athlete